SC agrees to hear plea against proposed constructions in Satkosia Tiger Reserve
A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and Joymalya Bagchi was urged by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal to hear the plea. The bench said it would hear the matter next week.
Bansal raised concerns over reported permission granted by the local administration for eco-tourism related constructions within the protected area. "The district collector has issued such permissions for construction of an eco-tourism spot. How can this be permitted?" he said.
"I am just fighting for forests," Bansal added.
The Satkosia Tiger Reserve, spread across the districts of Angul, Cuttack, Nayagarh and Boudh in Odisha, is a crucial habitat for tigers, elephants, and several endangered species.
The plea sought quashing of provisional no objection certificates (NOC) issued by district collectors of Angul, Nayagarh, Boudh and Cuttack for development works inside and around the Satkosia Tiger Reserve.
The petitioner argued it was without jurisdiction and in violation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the plea said, in April 2018 directed all states for mandatory delineation of eco-sensitive zones (ESZs) around tiger reserves.
The plea said these directions clearly stipulated where a protected area formed part of the buffer, a minimum one kilometer ESZ must be demarcated around it.
"There are multiple large-scale and systemic issues affecting the ecological and legal integrity of Satkosia Tiger Reserve, which require independent attention and urgent consideration of this court," it said.
In line with the NTCA's April 2018 direction, the petitioner said, the Odisha government recently submitted a draft proposal for declaration of ESZ around Satkosia Tiger Reserve to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for final notification.
"However, the said draft, if approved in its current form, will seriously compromise the ecological integrity and conservation dignity of the tiger reserve," it alleged.
The proposed tourism-centric development activities in and around the tiger reserve, including the construction of high-impact infrastructure and grant of arbitrary NOCs, were said to be contrary to the precautionary principle and violate the statutory framework under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
"The zero-kilometre ESZ boundary proposed in parts of Satkosia Tiger Reserve violates NTCA's 2018 directive, which mandates a minimum 1 km buffer from core tiger habitat wherever the buffer is absent or disjunct," the plea added.
It claimed the issuance of no objection certificates by district collectors and non-forest authorities for tourism infrastructure within and around a notified tiger reserve constituted an unlawful usurpation of statutory powers reserved for designated authorities under the Wildlife (Protection) Act and violates the binding directives of the apex court.
The plea alleged the actions of state government and its agencies exhibited a deliberate pattern of undermining central environmental regulations through procedural shortcuts and executive overreach, including attempts to modify ESZ notifications to dilute their protective scope for commercial tourism purposes. It also sought a direction to the state to withdraw the draft ESZ proposal relating to Satkosia Tiger Reserve.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
31 minutes ago
- Time of India
India's dignity belittled by hand-pulled rickshaws: SC
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed deep anguish over the prevailing inhuman practice of hand-pulled rickshaws ferrying visitors in the eco-sensitive and automobile-free Matheran hill station in Maharashtra's Western Ghats and said this belittles India's march towards a developing country and its Constitution which promises social and economic justice. A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria recalled a 45-year-old judgment in the Azad Rickshaw Pullers Association case, in which Supreme Court had come to the rescue of exploited cycle-rickshaw pullers and framed a scheme for ensuring their dignity and livelihood, and said that it is the duty of the Maharashtra govt to frame a scheme within six months to provide e-rickshaws to persons engaged in ferrying tourists on hand-pulled rickshaws. Dictating the judgment in court for the bench, CJI Gavai said, "It is really unfortunate that even after 45 years of the SC judgment on cycle-rickshaw pullers of Punjab, the inhuman practice of one human being ferrying another on hand-pulled rickshaws is prevalent (in Matheran)." "Are we alive to the social and economic justice of every human being as mandated by the Constitution? Unfortunately, the answer is in the negative. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The Most Beautiful Women In The World Undo Continuing such inhuman practices even after 75 years of the Constitution would be akin to betraying the promise 'We the People' made to all citizens - social and economic justice," he said. To ensure social and economic justice, the state must frame a scheme for the people who hand-pull rickshaws so that they earn their livelihood with dignity, the bench said and asked the Maharashtra govt to take a leaf out of the e-rickshaw scheme which is working well to empower tribal women around the Sardar Patel statue at Gujarat's Sardar Sarovar dam. The CJI said that the govt could purchase e-rickshaws for Matheran and rent them out only to those who hand-pull rickshaws to rehabilitate them.
Time of India
32 minutes ago
- Time of India
SC orders states to survey orphaned kids denied education
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed all states to survey orphaned children who were denied education under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act. A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice KV Viswanathan asked the Centre to consider including data of such children in the upcoming census, scheduled to be carried out in 2027. The apex court was hearing a plea raising concerns for orphans in need of care and protection. The bench further directed the states to survey orphaned children who had been granted admission in schools under the provisions of the Act. The petitioner said schemes of the Centre and the state govts for protection and care of orphans were inadequate, requiring consideration. "States to make a survey of the orphan children who have already been granted admission under the provisions of the Act as well as a survey of the children who have been denied such right to free and compulsory education under the Act and if so, for what reasons," the top court said. The states would have to return with their respective affidavits. With the survey and data collection going on, the bench asked for simultaneous efforts to ensure deserving children got admissions in neighbourhood schools. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Learn More - How Watching Videos Can Boost Your Income TheDaddest Undo The bench granted four weeks to the authorities to comply with the directions. It came on record that several states, including Gujarat, Delhi, Meghalaya and Sikkim, had already issued notifications to include orphaned children within the 25% quota for those belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups as prescribed in Section 12 (1) (c) of the law. The bench said other states might also consider issuing similar notification and file a related affidavit on record. It posted the matter for Sept 9. The petitioner sought directions to the Centre to consider having a data of orphans in the upcoming census. When the petitioner said the Centre should be asked to file a detailed affidavit on the aspects raised in the plea, the bench said it would consider all the issues. The bench observed there were Juvenile Justice Committee in all high courts and national consultations were also being held on these issues. The petitioner contended that India gives a lot of support and lot of opportunities to children of weaker sections such as scholarships, reservations, jobs, loans, etc., but there was nothing for orphans. She said Unicef estimates 25 million orphans in India. BOX SC order on Lucknow lawyer's PIL The PIL was filed by Lucknow-based social activist and lawyer Poulomi Pavini Shukla. "This direction is a welcome as well as necessary step, in order to provide quality education to orphan children in the country," said Shukla. India has more than 2 crore orphan children, according to Unicef estimates. Shukla also raised the demand of enumerating orphan children in the upcoming census. The Solicitor General, appearing on behalf of central govt responded affirmatively that orphan children should be included in the census data collection and said he would seek instruction. After filing of her PIL, various states have brought in steps for orphans welfare, including providing reservation to orphan children.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
In Supreme Court, EC may share same draft roll it gave to political parties
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is likely to inform the Supreme Court that it had shared the draft electoral rolls of Bihar with various political parties on August 1 and had also circulated lists detailing reasons for the deletion of nearly 6.5 million electors, people familiar with the matter told HT on Wednesday. The Election Commission of India headquarters in New Delhi(File Photo) The top court, which is hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the ECI's ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, on Wednesday directed the poll body to file to file a reply by August 9 in response to allegations that over 6.5 million names were deleted from the draft rolls. An official aware of the matter, requesting anonymity, said: 'The roll shared with parties on August 1 has detailed classifications of the 65 lakh (6.5 million) deletions. While there is no separate category for those who didn't fill enumeration forms, they have been grouped under 'migrated'. Suspected foreign nationals are also under review and listed under the same head, but they are being separately verified by electoral registration officers (EROs).' The top court's order came on a plea filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-profit working on electoral and political reforms, alleging that ECI removed a column titled 'Uncollectable Reason' from the version of the draft roll published on August 1. The petition also sought disclosure of booth-wise deletions and their reasons. The top court asked ECI to inform it when were the draft rolls shared to the parties, which parties received these rolls, as well as to submit the list of deleted names. The official cited above said the draft rolls were handed over to all political parties by district collectors at 11 am on August 1, and published on the ECI's website at 3 pm the same day. Booth-level data, the official added, was shared with political party representatives. In a press note on July 25, the commission had said that 2.2 million electors were found deceased, 700,000 were registered in more than one place, and 3.5 million had either migrated permanently or were untraceable. After top court's direction on Wednesday, ECI issued a press note saying: '…lists of electors found dead, permanently shifted, having duplicate entries, or uncontactable after at least three visits by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) had been shared with all political parties and their BLAs on or before July 20.' It further shared a series of posts with various BLAs saying they have received the draft electoral roll and separately a list of the 6.5 million individuals removed from the roll. ECI also said that between August 1 and August 6 (9 AM), no political party had filed claims or objections related to the draft roll. However, 3,659 individual objections and claims have been submitted directly by electors. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) rejected EC's 'no objections' received remarks, saying EC is trying to create an impression that everything is fine with the Bihar SIR and there are no complaints coming in. 'Nothing could be farther from the truth', the opposition party said in a post on X, listing several concerns, including the claim that its leaders had submitted complaints which were not being counted because they were not routed through BLAs. It also questioned the assumption that all 15,000 Form 6 applications received were from first-time voters and not from electors who had been deleted from the rolls. 'We have been repeatedly asking the EC to provide us with booth level lists of deletion specifying the ground thereof, but to no avail,' the Left party added.
